Categories: Exotics

The Nissan Juke R is one of those vehicles that when it acts, we watch - partly because it's just such a cool little car and partly because it's usually doing cool things. Like racing supercars. And tearing up ice in Norway.

After his stint racing around the streets of Dubai, Nissan driver Lucas Ordonez got sent to the other end of the world. Instead of hot asphalt and hot supercar engines, he's battling cold ice on the Losna Isbane Ice Track in Norway. As you might expect, the suped-up small crossover looks all kinds of comfortable shaving ice and fishtailing across the great north.

Alfa Romeo is desperately trying to claw its way back to relevance, so it shouldn't really come as much surprise that it will cling onto one of the most successful roadsters of our times when building a small convertible of its own. Still, Alfa Romeo Miata has a strange sound to it.

Mazda and Alfa Romeo announce this week that they have signed a non-binding "Memorandum of Understanding" to jointly develop a new roadster. The roadster will be based on the next-generation MX-5 rear-wheel-drive platform.

It seems pretty clear that something we can all agree on is that it's about time Lamborghini really started making some flashy cars. Thankfully, it seems like those lazy Italians over in Sant'Agata Bolognese got their collective act together and created a car that just might make a little noise among the supercar faithful. The Lamborghini Aventador J made a couple folks start talking at the Geneva motor show a few weeks ago -- don't worry, we wondered why too. Normally, pretty low key cars, the Aventador J are a true barchetta in the classic sense. The low windscreen/windshield rises up off the body of the hood about as high as your average Hot Wheels car. It is so low that the driver is actually required to wear a helmet in order to drive it legally on the street.

It was really just a formality at this point, but Ferrari has officially confirmed that the F70 Enzo successor will be a hybrid. Ferrari spiced up an otherwise dull press release by confirming the F70 for debut by year end.

Ferrari said in a press release about its first quarter earnings: "At the end of the year, we'll also be unveiling the new Enzo, a limited series model and our first ever hybrid car."

As we learned from Chrysler's recent Viper heritage video, Chrysler received an emotional response when it introduced the Viper concept back in 1989. In the video, former Chrysler chief Lee Iacocca says that one of the first people to inquire about Viper purchase was the president of the German Ferrari club, a fact that really highlights the level of performance and aesthetics Chrysler had successfully attained.

The new 2013 Viper has an equally compelling (though likely more manufactured) story relating to Ferrari. Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was left speechless when he first got a close-up look at the new SRT Viper.

After making its European and Asian debuts, things are looking good for the Bentley SUV. Bentley says that it's currently working on a business case for a production version of the EXP-9, and it believes it could sell about 3,000 models a year. It seems confident that official approval from Volkswagen is but a formality.

Last year, Bentley sold roughly 7,000 units from its Mulsanne-Continental line, so an extra 3,000 units from an SUV line wouldn't be anything to snort at. Bentley hasn't publicly okayed the model for production, but it sounds like the business case is making itself.

The parking lot is one of the unheralded heroes of everyday living. If you've ever gone to an event where there was no parking lot, or the parking lot was full, or you had to pay premium pricing for a parking spot, you should have some appreciation for just how valuable a good piece of lined asphalt really is. If you don't have such appreciation, the world's most awesome Lamborghini parking lot should give it to you.

For those of us that don't drive or see exotic cars regularly, a quick trip past a Lamborghini or Ferrari dealership is an exciting experience. Seeing a few red supercars lined up in a window or dealership lot is pretty novel. Ordinarily, you'd be happy just to see a single model.

Polish supercar. Nope, that's not a punchline awaiting a joke. That's an actual thing that goes by the name of Arrinera. Apparently, it's not just vaporware either. The Polish supercar company has announced the price and final specs of its Lamborghini knockoff first car.

Arrinera gained some cred when it name-dropped supercar icon Lee Noble in developing its supercar (which still doesn't seem to have a model name), and it gets one step closer to actual reality with the announcement of pricing and details. When compared with other European supercars, the Arrinera could be viewed as a bargain. It will base at a rather humble $160,060.

If we had to place all our money on red, we'd say that Bugatti will eventually green light the 16C Galibier for production. The car may be the most ridiculous, over-the-top creation since the personal jetpack, but Bugatti seems to be doing too much with it to just let it wither on the vine. They've tinkered the car to Wolfgang Durheimer's perfecting demands and have let rumors run rampant, unrequited by any denial. Now, about 2.5 years after the concept was first revealed, Bugatti has released a random promo. There's just no way they let this hyper-sedan disappear without a production run.

With the Veyron nearing mandatory retirement, Bugatti must find something to fill its one-car lineup if it intends to continue having a presence in the auto market. And the only thing that we've really seen that could do that is the 16C Galibier. We're guessing that VW is just waiting for the right economic conditions to announce a $2 million ultra-premium sedan that puts basically every luxury and performance sedan in the world to shame.

Remember the 485-hp Juke small crossovers that Nissan execs never wanted developed and swore would never get produced? It's getting produced...on a per-customer basis.

Apparently Nissan has enjoyed the attention that it's been getting for the GT-R-powertrained Juke so much that it's decided to build it. And since there's a big difference between "Check out that awesome 485-hp Juke race Lamborghinis on YouTube!" and "I'd literally pay $600K for a chunky, high-performance super-crossover," Nissan is only building it upon order, ensuring that it won't be staring at a huge warehouse of super-Jukes.

For months, the terms "baby SLS" and "SLC" have occasionally surfaced in auto news sources. Mercedes has reportedly been developing a smaller, less expensive coupe to complement the SLS AMG flagship. Now, it's given it the official go-ahead, according to one news source.

Auto Express reports that Mercedes Head of Design Gorden Wagener confirmed the model and its "SLC" name from the floor of the Beijing Motor Show last week. Past reports have said that the model was coming, but this is the first that we've seen that gives confirmation attributed directly to a Mercedes exec.